Vedic Knowledge Online

The Malay language is almost completely derived from Sanskrit, and the early litriture is predominantly based on the Ramayana and the Mahabaratha. Even today, a major portion of Malay vocabulary is made up of Sanskrit words. Today, when a Malay speaks a sentence of ten words, probably five to seven of them will be Sanskrit words and the remaining either of Arabic, Tamil, Hindi, English, Chinese, Persian or of some other origin.

Words such as putera, son; puteri, daughter; asmara, love; samudra, ocean; belantra, jungle; kenchana, gold; sukma, soul; and literally thousands of other words are all Skt. words, either in original or in modified form.